How Devotees Rise
Purity of Heart
Reading and Affirmation for June
From the book The Beatitudes: Their Inner Meaning by Swami Kriyananda
How Devotees Rise
Truth is one and eternal. Realize oneness with it in your deathless Self, within.
The following commentary is based on the teachings of Paramhansa Yogananda.
Last week we asked the question, Why do devotees fall? and we considered the downfall of Judas in this context. Jesus, in answer to Judas’s criticism for allowing Mary to rub his feet with spikenard, a very costly ointment, said, “The poor always ye have with you: but me ye have not always.”
Jesus is saying here that there is one supreme “injustice” that needs eradication: poverty, yes, but not of a material kind: poverty in a spiritual sense.
Divine blessings are not common in this world. They are extraordinary. When they come, we should give them priority above every other consideration.
Never allow a moment of inner joy, for instance, to be set aside for lesser “duties.” Divine attunement is our highest priority. As Lahiri Mahasaya, the guru of Yogananda’s guru, said, “To listen to the heart’s inner sound (AUM, which issues from the very center of our being) is man’s highest duty.”
Mary was not, at that moment, communing with the Master inwardly. She was serving him outwardly – but in a spirit very different from the restless fussing for which Jesus had reprimanded her sister, Martha. Those who see a radical difference between the paths of action and meditation should understand this distinction. To serve in the right spirit is necessary, for only thereby can we overcome our karmic tendencies toward restless activity. The important thing is that that spirit be always inwardly focused: that in everything we do we act in loving service to the Lord.
Therefore the Bhagavad Gita says in the third Chapter:
The state of freedom from action [that is, of eternal rest in the Spirit] cannot be achieved without action. No one, by mere renunciation and outward non-involvement, can attain perfection.
Whenever the spirit of God descends upon you, however, remember the words of Jesus, “Me ye have not always with you.”
Thus, through holy Scripture, God has spoken to mankind.
Whispers From Eternity
God’s Boatman
I want to ply my boat, many times,
Across the gulf after death,
And return to earth’s shores
From my home in space.
I want to load my boat
With all those waiting, thirsty ones
Who have been left behind,
That I may carry them to the opalescent pool
Of iridescent joy,
There where my Father distributes
His all-desire-quenching, liquid peace.
Oh! I will come back again and again!
Crossing a million crags of suffering,
With bleeding feet, I will come,
If need be, a trillion times,
As long as I know that
One stray brother is left behind.
I want Thee, O God,
That I may give Thee to all!
I want salvation,
That I may give it to all!
Free me then, O Lord,
From the bondage of this body,
That I may show others
How they too can free themselves!
I want Thine everlasting happiness,
But I want also to share it with others—
That all my brothers may find the way to happiness,
Forever and forever, in Thee!
Paramhansa Yogananda
Inspiration from the Rays of One Light
The state of freedom from action [that is, of eternal rest in the Spirit] cannot be achieved without action. No one, by mere renunciation and outward non-involvement, can attain perfection.
Bhagavad Gita Chapter 3
We will take these meaningful words into our meditation together for deep reflection and contemplation. But firstly, we will listen to the beautiful Psalm of David, sung by Mary Kretzmann.
Psalm of David
Listen to the Psalm of David
Reflect, Meditate and Listen to Instrumental Music
Reflection from the Rays of the One Light
Peace Sangha
This week, I was inspired by the words from the Bhagavad Gita Chapter 3
The state of freedom from action [that is, of eternal rest in the Spirit] cannot be achieved without action. No one, by mere renunciation and outward non-involvement, can attain perfection.
Here is a poem I created called “In His Holy Name”.
In His Holy Name
Freedom after Freedom
The Beloved rhythm calls
Step after step, my rhythm falls
When we stand still in the Divine will
Can only we rise according to Thy will
Friday's Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
Only the Divine will can fill
When the doer is purified of I, me and mine
Every devoted action becomes an accompanied divine sign
For the hands that heal
For the feet that move
For the heart that beats
Are the instruments the Beloved
Who choose you
To prove
Listening to the sacred Aum
The grace that is not distant
Shows his tenderness in the distance
Your healing silent love
Flows as His manifestation
Through you
In His Holy Name
Aum Christ’s Love Amen
